CEO of German Volkswagen: Instead of conducting a countervailing investigation into China's electric vehicles, it is better to improve its competitiveness
The European Union decided to launch a countervailing duty investigation into pure electric manned vehicles imported from China, and for this naked protectionist behavior, European people represented by German Chancellor Scholz have long warned that they are "not convinced of the need to tax China."
According to the German "Stuttgart Daily" local time on October 4, German Volkswagen Group and Porsche Group CEO Oliver Blume (Oliver Blume) was also skeptical when attending an event that day, he mentioned that European politicians should be cautious when taking action on China's trade behavior, and mentioned the word "fair competition", believing that protectionism will only lead to more protectionism.
On October 4, the CEO of the German Volkswagen Group and the Porsche Group attended the event and spoke Pictured from the Stuttgart Zeitung
At the event, Obermu reportedly said that "we stand for fair competition," but protectionism should not arise from this, because it leads to more protectionism. In addition, he added, the investigation into so-called "unfair trade practices" should not be limited to Chinese suppliers, but should include all market participants.
The European Union recently launched a countervailing duty investigation into Chinese electric vehicles, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen claiming that Chinese "subsidies" distorted the market. Obermu said: "We should focus more on how to create competitive industrial conditions here, and if we are strong enough, we don't have to fear competition outside Europe." ”
According to reports, this spring, Volkswagen, which has been leading the Chinese market for many years, its market share was surpassed by BYD, a local Chinese automaker. In this regard, Obermu believes that the strong market position of Chinese car companies is based on their own strength advantages, such as BYD's industrial chain is highly integrated, and 90% of its chips and batteries are produced by itself. After being overtaken by BYD, Volkswagen is also adjusting its goals for the Chinese market, hoping to become the largest international automaker in the local market.
Within the EU, Germany and many other member states have clearly opposed the European Commission's launch of this investigation into China. Earlier, German Chancellor Scholz expressed his position on the topic of "the necessity of tariffs on China's electric vehicles" in an interview published by the German media "Economic Weekly" on September 28, local time, and he said that he was "not very convinced" about this.
"Our economic model should not be based on protectionism or on protectionism, but on the attractiveness of our products." Scholz recalled that similar concerns arose when Japanese automakers entered the German market in the 80s and when Korean automakers entered the German market in the 90s. He added: "However, we stood our ground. ”
BYD and other Chinese car companies unveiled at the Munich Motor Show Picture from the New York Times
On October 4, China's Ministry of Commerce stated that the European side launched this countervailing duty investigation only based on subjective assumptions about the so-called subsidy projects and damage threats, lacked sufficient evidence to support it, and did not comply with relevant WTO rules. The EU side asked China to hold consultations within a very short period of time, and did not provide effective consultation materials, which seriously damaged China's rights.
At the 10th China-EU Economic and Trade High-level Dialogue held not long ago, China made it clear that the investigative measures to be taken by the EU side to protect its own industry in the name of "fair trade" are naked protectionist acts, which will seriously disrupt and distort the global automotive industry chain and supply chain, including the EU, and have a negative impact on China-EU economic and trade relations.
China urges the EU to proceed from the overall situation of maintaining the stability of the global industrial chain and supply chain and the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership, prudently use trade remedy measures, encourage the new energy industry represented by electric vehicles to deepen cooperation, and create a fair, non-discriminatory and predictable market environment for the common development of the China-EU electric vehicle industry. China will pay close attention to the follow-up investigation procedures of the European side and firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.
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